THE PRICE YOU PAY

 

Jeff Petry is young, has proven he can play in the NHL and be effective, and is signed to a ridiculous value contract. If the Edmonton Oilers knock on the door of another NHL team and request a stud defender, it is reasonable to assume that a defenseman of some quality would be part of the asking price. Is that Fair? What if the defenseman was Shea Weber? 

Shea Weber is as close as we’re going to get to the Rake 2.0 without finding Dr. Emmett Brown, and you could create a scenario where the big man is moved out of Nashville soon. The offer sheet fiasco had a few rough items and the Preds are a team known to make deals that involve sending away the best player in a trade. 

Shea Weber is an elite defenseman and the pricetag will be mammoth. Can the Oilers put together the package that gets him to Northern Alberta?

If the Oilers plan to make a "wow" move–and lets face it acquiring Weber would be an exceptional wow–then you have to know the pricetag would be dear. I’ll guess an NHL defenseman who can play top 4D out of the gate (and doesn’t cost a lot), a young forward capable of stepping in (Teemu Hartikainen), a solid defensive prospect (we’ll use Martin Marincin) and a 1st or 2nd round draft pick. 

Is that fair? Too much? Bottom line, if you’re going to acquire a signed Shea Weber the price will be dear. However, the payoff would be an "instant" improvement to the blue, as it might look something like this:

You may feel it looks about the same as before, and the difference in TOI from Petry to Weber is clear but not as pronounced as you might think:

The extra EV and PP time would be against the toughest opposition and the Oilers would have a veteran stud to run out there in any situation. Tough zone starts, tough opposition, the entire Pronger–save for a bit of the mean streak and Weber is no shrinking violet.

The question is this: how much improvement can the Oilers expect in the Smid-Petry pairing (an effective duo) by adding Weber and subtracting Petry. I would suggest the answer is significant–but is it enough to pull the trigger?

Yes. Its a dear, dear price and yet Shea Weber on this team–with the young Justin Schultz behind him on the second pairing–could turn a negative into a positive in a heartbeat. 

Its all just discussion during hockey’s long rain delay. However, the Oilers do have a nice collection of assets and at some point they are going to cash them in. Shea Weber would be an outstanding candidate, but Oiler fans should be prepared to be amazed at the price tag.